"My friend, you have honestly confessed your sins and your father's before the Heavenly Father, but I must remind you that confession must be sincere and complete. Have you admitted to every wrong, without concealing or hiding anything?"
Little John thought carefully for a long while. Only after making sure he had left nothing out did he answer uneasily, "Yes, that's everything I know."
The look on his face reminded Dominic of his thesis defense: racking his brain for every last thing he could remember, then, at the final moment, giving the dean and the invited examiners a cumbersome but as thorough an answer as he could.
He didn't know which part of his answer had moved the examiners to sign off on his report, just as Little John now didn't know which part of his confession had suddenly caught the two monks' attention.
Feld, who had been walking around, stopped too and stood quietly to one side, listening.
"May the Lord have mercy on you and your father. By the authority granted to me by the Church, may He forgive you all your sins."
The Basket Weaver's trembling shoulders seemed to set Dominic's own arm shaking. It took him three tries to find the Holy Emblem he carried with him and press it against the man's forehead.
"Now your soul has been cleansed. Continue to pray and remain faithful, so that you do not fall into sin again."
"Thank you, Priest. If possible, I'd like to make a donation to the Church as a token of my gratitude."
Now absolved, Little John repeatedly traced an awkward sign of prayer in front of himself, then tried to get up and fetch something from inside.
The monks stopped him, explaining that they would not accept any form of payment for hearing